NOTES
Classes:
-Elsword: Rune Slayer
-Raven: Reckless Fist
-Chung: Iron Paladin
-Add: Mastermind/Arc Tracer
-Lu: Chiliarch
-Ciel: Base
-Other classes will be updated as need be
Full Names:
-Elsword Sieghart
-Raven Blackwing
-Hyeon 'Chung' Seiker (Special credit to princechung for this)
-Add Kim
-Luciela 'Lu' R. Sourcream
-Other names will be updated as need be
It was certainly an interesting proposition.
A single golden eye regarded the woman before him, a Cheshire grin hidden. "Kuku...and what would be the benefit of me doing this...?"
"You'd get more entertainment and possibly newcomers to run your little gauntlet," she replied, smirking as she crossed her arms. "Come on, you can't say you don't think the idea would be fun to try."
He twirled a cube on a gloved fingertip, watching the light reflect from its cobalt surfaces. "It would be risky, however, for them to meet their own alternates. Meshing together time and space is quite a dangerous practice. Surely if there is collateral damage you would take responsibility?"
"Absolutely. The arena is getting stale as it is, so I'd gladly do what it takes to spice it up."
His eye practically glowed. "Very well, then. I trust you'll set things up."
"Hey Els, check this out."
The knight sat up with a slight tilt of his head when a certain prince strolled toward him, holding a pamphlet in his hand as he examined it. He blinked owlishly when Chung held it out in front of his face, squinting for just a moment as he read it aloud.
"Come one, come all! The Arena of Henir is open to the public! Meet yourself on the battlefield and prove your strength! Only those who have proven themselves in the CoBo Arena may participate..." The Rune Slayer lightly scratched his head, still examining the peculiar logo-shaped similar to the CoBo symbol, but with a cube in its middle instead of a circle. "Henir? Why's that sound familiar?"
"It's the name of time-space pocket Glave governs," Chung replied as he looked at the pamphlet again. The Paladin sat down, his rather heavy Freiturnier causing the chair to give a strained creak under the weight. Elsword flinched slightly when he heard the noise, almost expecting it to break under him and drop him to the ground. "He sends challengers in and they fight enemies they've fought before or are eventually fated to fight, all for his entertainment. I'm not sure what exactly makes it do that."
"So Glave's setting up something at the Arena?" Elsword rested his chin on his palm, tapping his cheek. "I wonder what he's got in mind. That 'meet yourself on the battlefield' thing has me curious." He grinned. "Maybe that means I'll fight myself when I'm older!"
"Hang on, Els, let's not jump straight into it." Both teens jumped when Raven spoke up, strolling in with his still-human hand tucked into his pocket. "Glave's crafty. Something's up for him to be associated with CoBo."
"I agree," Chung piped up with a nod. "It'd be dangerous to try going head-long into it."
"Boooo. What are you guys worried about? There's no monsters in the CoBo Arena, so why would there be monsters in this one?" Elsword pouted. "I dunno about you but I like the idea of possibly fighting myself. Maybe I'll meet my older self and learn a few things, or I'll meet my younger self and teach him a few things!"
"It is pretty tempting, I admit," Raven mused, idly playing with the white locks of hair that fell in front of his eyes. "Perhaps I'd meet another me who never lost his arm, or another me who can control it better..."
"You truly are simpletons, aren't you?"
The trio froze as a certain smooth voice, one that didn't fit the owner's age, rang through the room. Add strolled in as well, a cup of coffee in one hand and his obedient drone, Apocalypse, floating behind him. He regarded Elsword for a moment as he sipped his coffee, his eyes drifting from the swordsman to the Hamelian prince, then to the berserker cyborg. "You're simply interested in meeting yourselves, yet you've never truly wondered about what caused time-space to distort in a way that would allow such a phenomenon? Have you never wondered how, should we challenge Glave's little gauntlet, we encounter foes long slain?"
"Don't tell me you want to try it too..." Chung groaned.
"I'm simply interested in the mechanics of such a bizarre occurrence." Add shrugged, taking another sip of coffee.
"Hate to bust your bubble but you gotta be certified from the CoBo Arena to even try!" Elsword grinned, crossing his arms. "And since you hate fighting so bad, you never got certified! Sucks to be you!"
"...Um, Els?" Raven spoke up, catching his attention. He looked to Raven, who wordlessly pointed at Add. Returning his attention to the scientist, he found his jaw dropping when he saw him holding up a necklace, deftly tucked between his tie and vest. Its bright silver pendant, inlaid with a cobalt blue CoBo logo, was the emblem of a certified Arena participant. Though his rank was somewhat low, he was, in fact, eligible for the Arena of Henir.
"You were saying?" A silvery eyebrow quirked up.
"Neeeext!"
The line shifted forward slightly as another combatant registered for the Arena of Henir. Camilla greeted each one with a smile, requesting to see their proof of certification-their CoBo necklaces-before marking them off as a combatant and escorting them to the lobby where Glave waited.
Elsword looked back at the rest of his little group participating, each wearing their necklaces. Add of course had his blue necklace; Chung wore a red-and-gold necklace, having decided to join against his better judgment; Raven's necklace was a fiery red, worn proudly next to his cross necklace. Elsword's own necklace was a violet hue, marking his rank as higher than Add, yet still lower than either Chung or Raven.
"Out of the way, out of the way!"
Four faces paled when they heard a certain high pitched, squeaky voice. How did she get certification from CoBo to join the Arena? Even Add's normally composed expression was replaced with one of 'dear El Lady not her' when he heard the complaints of everyone standing behind him.
Lu stormed forward, tail swishing as she barged through the line. Ciel followed close behind her, apologizing quietly to everyone the diminutive demon lord shoved past. Seeing her tail and horns, as well as Ciel's pointed ears, no one dared to complain.
"I certainly hope you've no intention of causing a scene and trying to cut past us as well," Add remarked coldly. Lu planted her hands on her hips, glaring at the scientist from beneath her hood, only for Ciel to snatch her up by the back of said hood. "With all due respect, we hadn't expected you to be here as well, Add," he spoke up before Lu could snap at him. "I suppose you're interested in researching the mechanics of this new arena?"
"You know me quite well," Add remarked with a small smile, stepping forward when the line moved forward. "Raven Blackwing," he heard the man utter to Camilla as she verified his certification. "I suppose you're interested in getting stronger in this arena?" Add inquired.
"That we are," Ciel replied before Lu finally dislodged herself, still glaring at Add. "I've every right to go to the front of the line, don't you know who I am?!"
"Elsword Sieghart," Elsword spoke up, as the line moved forward again.
"You're an annoying child," Add replied, deciding to ignore her as Chung walked forward. "Hyeon Seiker," he murmured just quietly enough that only Camilla and Add heard him. Add blinked in surprise when he used his real name, before the prince quickly added that he would rather be called with the name 'Chung'.
"Can do, kiddo," Camilla assured, motioning for where Chung could go to wait. The prince walked in the direction pointed, and Add stepped up.
"Name and identification, please," she requested, still grinning. Add held up his necklace for her to see. "Add Kim."
"Oh, I forgot you got bumped up to a C-Rank not long ago," Camilla noted as she marked off his name. "Alright, go through there to the lobby, your number is 38."
Nodding, Add strolled off to the lobby, ignoring that squeaky voice chirping the name "Luciela R. Sourcream". Ugh, now he remembered why the idea of dairy products rolled his stomach.
"Oh, there you are, Add!" Elsword greeted, patting a seat next to him on a bench. He eyed it for a moment, before opting to sit on his Dynamos instead. Elsword frowned, looking away from him childishly.
Add jumped when another pamphlet dropped into his view, courtesy of Raven handing it to him. "Got this from Glave," he explained. "This outlines how the matches are gonna be made."
Accepting the pamphlet, Add glanced over it, taking note of the selection process: numbers were assigned to each combatant, and a random number would be picked. The combatant would enter the Arena of Henir, where time-space would distort itself to welcome someone from another timeline as the opponent. The idea was interesting, to be sure...
Perhaps Apocalypse could record the energy signatures during the distortion so Add could analyze it.
"Number 38!" Glave called. "Whoever is Number 38, you are the lucky combatant to try your luck at the Arena of Henir, kehehe..."
Welp, that was fast. Add stood from where he was seated, his Dynamos falling into formation behind him as he strolled through the rather large doorway. Beyond waited a space quite similar to the same dimension Glave moderated, before reality itself seemed to ripple, everything taking a new shape. A subtle splash caught Add's attention, prompting the scientist to look down at the ankle-deep seawater of a small beach. A peculiar battlefield.
Distracted as he was with the readings Apocalypse gave him, he didn't notice that his combatant had entered the arena until he heard an all-too-familiar voice.
"Dynamos, enter battle mode."